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Picture having a free evening. You are rejuvenated, eager for new things, and looking to break from your typical schedule of relaxing at home. The world offers possibilities! Would you choose a) seeing live music or b) engaging in intimacy? The response, as is often seen with these types of questions, is obviously: “It depends.” Reasonable people may reasonably ask: what kind of the concert? Who's the other person? Will it be going to be good?

Few would select a heavy metal lineup if the choice was a dream date with Jonathan Bailey. But adjust either end of the comparison, and it turns less obvious. For the thousands surveyed presented with this choice from a major concert promoter, no further context was offered – and the response emerged unambiguously and strongly supporting concerts.

Study Data Indicate Unexpected Preferences

An international report, questioning a large sample aged between 18 and 54 in different nations, found that concerts have become the most popular leisure activity, surpassing sports, movies and – indeed – sex. When limited to only one option of enjoyment for the rest of their lives, a significant portion selected live music, compared to watching movies (17%) and sports events (14%). The group was significantly more as likely to select seeing their favourite artist on stage (70%) over sex (30%).

You arrive anticipating happily shocked – and quite often you could wind up with another person's locks in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Of course it’s not surprising that a PR survey conducted for a concert promoter should come out so overwhelmingly supporting live shows – and, amid the playful spirit of a hypothetical choice, if your top performer is, for example an iconic star, it's understandable why seeing him might win out instead of a ordinary experience. But this either-or decision between concerts or sexual activity, obviously silly as it is, is noteworthy to consider amid the peculiar juncture we experience with these two aspects.

The Evolution of Concert Culture

Over the past few years, gig-going has evolved into more than a group event but a serious endeavor. Live organizations appropriately highlight that large venue turnout has “tripled year-over-year”, and live events sell out faster than ever. Merely acquiring tickets now needs extensive preparation, instant reactions and significant funds (or a substantial budget). Though you manage, that alone won't do to simply turn up and experience the event. Currently there is an assumption, particularly with music enthusiasts, that you might enhance your experience quality by going multiple times (including overseas trips), learning the performance lineup beforehand and memorizing the cues to hit and calls-and-responses developed through past attendees.

Numerous attendees describe being affected by their experience at large concerts: appearing as a orchestrated show of thousands of people, to which particular fans came unaware of the protocol. That 18-month event, earning massive sums, showed of the degree to which attendees will push to participate in a historic occasion and experience their top musician play, though the live sound appears more and more less important than the show.

The Situation of Contemporary Sexuality

Sex, conversely – an accessible and accessible pleasure – experiences challenging circumstances. Per contemporary studies, nearly one in four of individuals were intimate in an typical week, while nearly 30% were abstaining. Elsewhere, recent data revealed that over a quarter of individuals admitted to avoiding sex a single time in the past year, up from lower numbers in previous decades. In these areas, the change has been associated with less sexual activity in youth demographics. Compare this with the industry booming for large concerts and the cutthroat competition for tickets. Naturally it's more complicated as a basic option between one or the other – “do you prefer experience a popular event often, or stay celibate?” – but it’s perhaps an signal of which is perceived as the more consistent satisfaction.

Unexpected Similarities

Sex and live music are more similar than one may assume. Each symbolizes the activation of a connection, a real-world test of ideas or potential that could have built just in your mind. You arrive with a basic expectation of what might happen, but anticipating pleasantly surprised – and how it ends up satisfying or frustrating depends very much on whether your energy and expectations align with others. Regularly you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and afterwards be lingering for a cigarette and some quiet time by yourself. Likewise with either, stimulants and beverages can sometimes improve or reduce the situation (but certainly help the most dire experiences easier to weather).

Seeking Harmony

The magic to both gigs and sex hinges on locating that hard-to-find balance between the known and the new, consistency and change, work and relaxation. Of course it's uncommon – but it's the remembrance of successful moments, the understanding that it can happen, that inspires us to attempt once more: to {